Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. v. the Vessel Drive Ocean V

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTIONS FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT; PRIORITIZING THE CLAIMANTS’ IN REM CLAIMS; GRANTING BENDER SHIPBUILDING’S MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT AGAINST IN PERSONAM DEFENDANTS; SCHEDULING ORDER

The present motion concerns the validity and priority of competing claims to approximately $1.5 million deposited with the Registry of the Court (“Fund”) as a result of the judicially ordered interlocutory sale of the vessel M/V DRIVE OCEAN V (“Vessel”). Each of the moving parties claims first priority to the Fund: Nord-landsbanken ASA (“Bank”), Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. (“Bender”), Odin Shipping Ltd. (“Odin”), and Mario International Incorporated (“Mario”). For the reasons set forth below, the court grants in part and denies in part the parties’ motions for partial summary judgment; prioritizes the in rem claims of the parties, and grants Bender’s motion for default judgment against the in personam defendants. Further, the court sets a hearing date of November 23, 1998, at 10:30 a.m. to determine the amount of the claims.

BACKGROUND

At various times, the parties to this consolidated admiralty action either commenced separate actions or…